Marcellus & Utica Shale Story Links: Fri, Jul 18, 2014

The “best of the rest” – stories that caught MDN’s eye that you may be interested in reading:

New York

Williamsport Booms While Binghamton Bombs
Natural Gas Now/Tom Shepstone
A couple of years, when Williamsport was ranked as the seventh fastest growing metro economy in the US, I wrote a post on Energy In Depth called Williamsport Explorers Beat Ithaca Winers with Walk-Off Home Run. It compared the economies of Williamsport, Pennsylvania and Ithaca, New York, to note the impact of natural gas development. Well, things have changed and there is a new team to consider; the Binghamton Bombers. Yes, Williamsport has now risen three more notches to No. 4 on the list and Planet Ithaca dropped from No. 252 down to No. 283. Perhaps it’s time the Winers replaced Tony Ingraffea as coach. Still, they are aren’t quite at the bottom of their Upstate New York division. The Binghamton Bombers are at No. 327 and projected to drop further over the next seven years to finish dead last at No. 363.

Ohio

BP America Gets ODNR Approval to Plug Trumbull County Well
Akron Beacon Journal
BP America has won approval from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources to plug one of its producing wells in Trumbull County. The company won approval on July 10 to plug its Jewett IH well in Johnston Township, said ODNR spokesman Mark Bruce. Last April, the company said it was abandoning its efforts in the Utica shale and putting its 105,000 leased acres up for sale. That was due to poor results in its Trumbull County wells in the northern section of the Utica shale. The company announced that it was taking a $521 million write-off for the Ohio Utica shale.

Pennsylvania

Survey of Washington, Greene Elected Officials Shows Positive Views of Gas Industry
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
A survey of elected leaders in Washington and Greene counties found generally positive experiences with the gas exploration industry that has changed the face of their communities. “They’re starting to see a lot of vitality. There’s physical activity in the communities and new wealth among some property owners. New employees. That’s all very positive,” said Diana Stares, the director of the Center of Energy Policy and Management at Washington & Jefferson College, who oversaw the survey. “Now they’re anxious to draw from that development some long-term results. And some don’t know how to go about that.”

National

Antero Resources Corp: More Growth Than You’d Believe
The Motley Fool
The amount of long-term growth forecasted by Antero Resources Corporation is almost unheard of outside of social media stocks, especially for a company with a greater than $15 billion market cap. The Marcellus and Utica Shale natural gas exploration and production firm is probably mostly unknown by investors after going public last October. Despite production growth rates of over 100% and heading toward nearly 950 MMcfe/d during 2014, the company continues to forecast growth rates in excess of 50% in both 2015 and 2016.

Natural Gas Market Indicators: July 15, 2014
The Motley Fool
As the northern hemisphere summer is half way through, perhaps it is a good time to take stock of where we are at. On the supply front: production is as strong as it has ever been, with near record-breaking levels of dry gas produced at volumes more than 68 Bcf per day since June. Supplies directed toward storage have been similarly robust with a record setting 8 straight weeks of 100+ Bcf injections since May. In other words, production is solid and supplies are rebuilding. On the demand side…

Appalachia’s Long-Term Price Outlook Seen Improving
NGI’s Shale Daily
Rising U.S. onshore production and the oversupply that continues to stoke concerns about near-term drilling economics and price realizations in the Appalachian Basin could slowly be reversed with a basis uplift beginning in 2016 if demand, midstream bottlenecks and new technology improve as forecasted, according to a report from Canaccord Genuity.

Shale Drilling Heads Abroad But U.S. Has Advantages
Investor’s Business Daily
Significant shale production overseas may be only a handful of years away, potentially accelerating a global transformation in energy and politics, but other countries may not be able to create the conditions that gave the U.S. its first-mover advantage. The first wells are being drilled in promising locations such as western Siberia, North Africa and the Vaca Muerta formation in Argentina, says Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of business-information company IHS and a Pulitzer Prize winner, in an exclusive interview with IBD. “It’s just early days, I think — at least three to five years before we start to get the sense of having a buildup elsewhere,” he said. “But the one thing about the oil and gas field is that technologies don’t stay bottled up.”

How Fracking is Making Colorado Democrats Quiver
Washington Examiner
Colorado politics just got fracked up. Democratic Sen. Mark Udall announced his opposition Wednesday to statewide ballot initiatives being bankrolled by Rep. Jared Polis that would impose restrictions on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Udall is facing a tough fight from GOP Rep. Cory Gardner, who has slammed the ballot effort, to maintain his Senate seat. “Colorado has served as a model for the nation on finding the right balance between protecting our clean air and water, the health of our communities, and safely developing our abundant energy resources. In my view, these proposed ballot initiatives do not strike that balance,” Udall said.

International

Halliburton “Excited” to Sell to Chinese, Compromise American Security
Investor’s Business Daily
Sinopec, the world’s fourth-largest company measured by revenue, is increasing efforts to change that picture. It paid $2.2 billion in 2012 for a 30% stake in Devon Energy’s U.S. shale gas and oil operations. In May, it announced a joint venture with Switzerland-based Weatherford International to pursue shale drilling projects. Last year, it paid $1.2 billion for a 50% stake in Chesapeake Energy’s Oklahoma shale-gas assets. On June 10, it announced a joint venture with FTS International, a Houston-based fracking specialist, to develop projects in China. Halliburton jumped on China’s shale bandwagon Thursday, announcing a joint venture with China-based Petrotech Engineering. This is Halliburton’s first joint venture to provide fracking services there. A statement from CEO Dave Lesar said Halliburton was “excited about growing our presence in China.”